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        riddles >> what happened >> Apparition
        
(Message started by: alien on Oct 11th, 2006, 5:58am)
Title: Apparition
Post by alien on Oct 11th, 2006, 5:58am
Jake's catholic friend Charles fixed a big cross on his house. They live in a peaceful community where no advertising is allowed, including emphasizing of any symbols, except on private homes. One day his car broke down, and they had to continue on foot. Jake knows a way through an uninhabited, uncultivated plain that can shorten their trip. So as they walk on the plain, and it would take about an hour to cross it, Charles asks Jake to lend him some money, so that he could fix another cross on his house. Jake says to him that he is crazy, but then he says, and in a cynical way: 'Tell you what: regarding Christians, visions and apparitions, in the next half an hour, if you see a cross, which is bigger than the one on your house, I will lend you the money.' Charles says: 'You shouldn't test God, who can show me this cross, regardless of your skepticism.' What happened in the next half an hour is that Jake lent him the money. Why?
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by towr on Oct 11th, 2006, 6:05am
I would guess the Aneristic Principle strikes again.. [hide]i.e. the illusion of apparant order. Be it in clouds, or perhaps 4 or 5 stars in roughly the right position. If you want to find a pattern, there's a good chance you will.[/hide]
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Grimbal on Oct 11th, 2006, 6:59am
[hide]Charles took his big cross down the house and replaced it by a tiny cross.[/hide]

Or maybe

[hide]Charles is black.  He took his cell phone and just said "I f*ck the KKK".  By the time they arrived at his house, a huuuuge cross was burning in the garden.[/hide]
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by graphia on Oct 11th, 2006, 2:47pm
[hide]Southern Cross[/hide]
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by cchris on Oct 11th, 2006, 3:33pm
They cross the field?
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Sameer on Oct 11th, 2006, 4:24pm
Is there trickery in words that mean "cross" as in christian's cross... "cross" as in cross the field... "cross" as in a cross on the valley?
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Iceman on Oct 22nd, 2006, 6:20am

on 10/11/06 at 06:05:10, towr wrote:
I would guess the Aneristic Principle strikes again.. [hide]i.e. the illusion of apparant order. Be it in clouds, or perhaps 4 or 5 stars in roughly the right position. If you want to find a pattern, there's a good chance you will.[/hide]

Charles doesn't have a beautiful mind to see this constellation. But just in case you come up with a counterargument, I say it was daytime. As for clouds, I don't think so.  ;)


No to Grimbal and graphia.



on 10/11/06 at 15:33:28, cchris wrote:
They cross the field?

Negative.



on 10/11/06 at 16:24:17, Sameer wrote:
Is there trickery in words that mean "cross" as in christian's cross... "cross" as in cross the field... "cross" as in a cross on the valley?

Does this mean anything particular? But to answer your query, Charles has a Latin cross on his house. But there is no need to split hairs here, as a Greek cross would do just as well.
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by sofeffi on Oct 22nd, 2006, 6:23am
[hideb]It doesn't say where the car broke down: It could have broken down near a cathedral with a rather large cross on top.[/hideb]
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Whiskey Tango Foxtrot on Oct 22nd, 2006, 7:45am
[hide]He could head towards the nearest intersection.[/hide]
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Whiskey Tango Foxtrot on Oct 22nd, 2006, 7:50am
Or, [hide]can they see the cross on the barn from where they are standing?[/hide]
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Icarus on Oct 22nd, 2006, 12:26pm

on 10/22/06 at 06:20:33, Iceman wrote:
No to Grimbal and graphia.


Aw, man! I liked graphia's answer. Sure you won't reconsider?
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Iceman on Oct 24th, 2006, 6:49am

on 10/22/06 at 06:23:01, sofeffi wrote:
[hideb]It doesn't say where the car broke down: It could have broken down near a cathedral with a rather large cross on top.[/hideb]

There are no buildings in the vicinity.



on 10/22/06 at 07:45:53, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot wrote:
[hide]He could head towards the nearest intersection.[/hide]

No intersection either.



on 10/22/06 at 07:50:17, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot wrote:
Or, [hide]can they see the cross on the barn from where they are standing?[/hide]

No.



on 10/22/06 at 12:26:04, Icarus wrote:
Aw, man! I liked graphia's answer. Sure you won't reconsider?

Give me 200$ and I'll reconsider.  :P But if it makes you happy, his solution could work at night. The only problem with it might be the size of this cross, since I never saw it myself. I think it can be seen only from Australia or Southern America. Another thing is that you have to visualize this cross in your mind. So what we need is a solution that works at day.  ;)
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Icarus on Oct 24th, 2006, 4:42pm
The Southern Cross is many light-years in size, so I assure you that it will be far bigger than any cross located on Earth.

What kind of an alien never looked at the stars while flying his ship? It's no wonder you crashed here!
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by sofeffi on Oct 25th, 2006, 2:06am
Does perspective count for anything?

[hide]The cross on his house may look tiny from far away, so if he holds up a small cross (he may have a cross on his necklace) it could look bigger.[/hide]
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Iceman on Oct 25th, 2006, 10:56am
No. He can't see the cross on his house from here.  
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by cchris on Oct 25th, 2006, 4:45pm
The plain is [hide]where Jesus was crucified[/hide]?
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Iceman on Oct 26th, 2006, 8:52am
She wasn't crucified on a plain.  
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by TheNumberScott on Oct 26th, 2006, 2:24pm
[hideb]it is sunset, and the setting sun causes the cross to cast a huge shadow over the entire field.[/hideb]
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by cchris on Oct 26th, 2006, 2:26pm
I feel that's right.
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Whiskey Tango Foxtrot on Oct 26th, 2006, 6:56pm
But the cross is on the side of a house.  How can it possibly cast a shadow onto the field?  Some other object might cast a large shadow, though.
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Sameer on Oct 26th, 2006, 7:30pm
Can't he just pick up a stick a draw a large cross?
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Iceman on Oct 27th, 2006, 8:28am
No winner yet.




on 10/26/06 at 18:56:12, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot wrote:
Some other object might cast a large shadow, though.

That's not it either.
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Iceman on Nov 4th, 2006, 7:44am
I like this riddle. It is a shame to left it unsolved.  :'( Give it another try.  :)
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by TheNumberScott on Nov 4th, 2006, 9:20am
telephone pole?
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Iceman on Nov 4th, 2006, 9:43am
No poles either.  ;)
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by sofeffi on Nov 5th, 2006, 2:03am
maybe there was a large scarecrow constructed on 2 crossed over pieces of wood?
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Iceman on Nov 5th, 2006, 7:56am
No. The plain is uninhabited and uncultivated.
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by jollytall on Nov 5th, 2006, 10:58am
It does not say, Charles could not play an active role in the next half an hour.
So he stopped (only he has to see it, his friend might go on) and drew a large cross on the plain. There are many ways to do this, stepping on the grass (like crop circles), urinate in a cross-shape, etc.
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Grimbal on Nov 6th, 2006, 1:33am

on 10/11/06 at 05:58:43, alien wrote:
What happened in the next half an hour is that Jake lent him the money. Why?

They made another unrelated bet and Jake lost?

Charles attached Jack and dropped him on an ant nest until he accepts to lend the money?

Charles threw in his daughter in the negociation?

God actually stepped down from a cloud holding a large cross?

Charles made a moving speech on how christian faith changed his life and how generosity is at the core of christianity?

Jake said "come on, I am joking, here is the money."?
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Iceman on Nov 6th, 2006, 5:35am
No to both. Sorry boys. Still, for some peculiar reason, your answer where you mention god, reminds me of the right answer. Maybe it is because of my quiz, so plausible associations are cooking in my head, but it is probably for no reason.  ;)
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by cchris on Nov 6th, 2006, 7:20am
[hide]There's a crop sign (http://www.aeropause.com/archives/spacecrop.jpg) in the middle of the field in the shape of a cross?[/hide]
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Iceman on Nov 6th, 2006, 8:42am
This reminds me of my former nick, but no.  ;) Not even close.  8)
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by sofeffi on Nov 7th, 2006, 1:11pm
No reason why a qualified crossbuilder isn't transporting a large-scale project of his around town is there?
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Sameer on Nov 7th, 2006, 2:23pm
They meet the son of the carpenter in the field who is conincidentally is having the largest cross sale as made by his father  ;)
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Iceman on Nov 8th, 2006, 12:47pm
No one else was in the plain.
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Sameer on Nov 8th, 2006, 5:20pm

on 11/08/06 at 12:47:39, Iceman wrote:
No one else was in the plain.


Son of carpenter = Jesus
Father = God

they don't need to be in the plain  ;)
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Iceman on Nov 9th, 2006, 2:45pm
When you pray to god, where do you usually look?  ;)
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Sameer on Nov 9th, 2006, 3:13pm

on 11/09/06 at 14:45:17, Iceman wrote:
When you pray to god, where do you usually look?  ;)


Actually I am an atheist/agnostic.. so i need more hints..  ;)
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by TheNumberScott on Nov 9th, 2006, 5:39pm
airplane?
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by TheNumberScott on Nov 14th, 2006, 12:12am
perhaps two planes left vapor trails that crossed eachother.
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Iceman on Nov 14th, 2006, 2:41am

on 11/14/06 at 00:12:29, TheNumberScott wrote:
perhaps two planes left vapor trails that crossed eachother.

You got it TheNumberScott!  8)
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Icecalibur on Nov 14th, 2006, 5:21am
Woo hoo!
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Iceman on Nov 14th, 2006, 6:03am
Must improve vocabulary and enchant my sword some more, so Icecalibur can say, for instance, when I enter a bar, 'a glass of ice cubes, please: shaken, but not stirred.'  :P
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Sameer on Nov 14th, 2006, 9:18am

on 11/14/06 at 05:21:43, Icecalibur wrote:
Woo hoo!


Why are you so happy?!?!? You didn't solve the puzzle  :P
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by TheNumberScott on Nov 14th, 2006, 10:53am
sweet. It was your comment about the clouds that tipped me off.
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Iceman on Nov 14th, 2006, 11:23am
You just stay in the tip-off state  :o whenever you can, whatever that means, because new riddles are coming.  :-X As you can see, some of my riddles aren't solved for weeks, and a few will never be solved, like the French one. But this is all right because French are [hide]assholes[/hide]. The only three things that are good about France are Marseillaise, Eiffel Tower, and Canada.   ::)
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Sameer on Nov 14th, 2006, 11:37am
What french puzzle? Mystery behind the name "french fries"?  ::)
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Iceman on Nov 14th, 2006, 11:55am
Feux d'artifice. It is on 2nd page. Try to solve it if you can. I didn't think so.
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Grimbal on Nov 14th, 2006, 1:01pm
But the riddle said: "They walk on the plain, and it would take about an hour to cross it."  How could they have it "crossed" in half an hour?  With airplanes or with the help of God, the riddle says it can not be "crossed". ::)
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by TheNumberScott on Nov 14th, 2006, 1:27pm
it just says that they will see a cross in 30 min, not that they will cross it. The 30 min time limit is seperate from crossing the field, as far as I can tell.
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Iceman on Nov 14th, 2006, 1:49pm

on 11/14/06 at 13:01:46, Grimbal wrote:
But the riddle said: "They walk on the plain, and it would take about an hour to cross it."  How could they have it "crossed" in half an hour?  With airplanes or with the help of God, the riddle says it can not be "crossed". ::)

Marijuana?  :P  
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by cchris on Nov 14th, 2006, 1:59pm
"It would take about an hour to cross it" should be rewritten as "it would take about an hour to walk across it" to avoid confusion with the word "cross", as it was stated earlier that crossing the field has nothing to do with the rest of the riddle.
Title: Re: Apparition
Post by Iceman on Nov 14th, 2006, 2:22pm
I trust your judgment.  ;) I cannot modify the riddle though, because a bloke named alien started this thread. I don't know him, but I think he lives on Mars. Sorry.   :-/


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